Twin Cities peace groups to mark 14 years of war on Afghanistan, Demand end to endless U.S. wars

Minneapolis, MN – To mark 14 years of endless war, Minneapolis and Saint Paul area peace groups will hold events on Oct. 7.

The organizers of the weekly peace vigil on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue bridge between Minneapolis and Saint Paul have issued a special appeal for opponents of U.S. military intervention to attend that day, under the call of “Say No to Endless U.S. War!”

After the vigil, there will be a potluck dinner and program from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Saint Albert the Great Church, 2836 33rd Avenue S in Minneapolis.

The program is entitled “Endless War at Home and Abroad – From the Middle East to Ferguson, Baltimore and the Twin Cities.”

Speakers will include Coleen Rowley, retired FBI Agent, a former Minneapolis Division Legal Counsel and 911 whistleblower; Mel Reeves, human rights activist and long-time opponent of U.S. wars and police brutality; and Steve Clemens, a peace activist who has visited Iraq and Afghanistan on peace delegations to see firsthand the effects of U.S. wars.

Spoken word artist Misty Rowan will also participate in the program.

A statement issued by organizers says in part, "Oct. 7, 2015 will mark 14 years since the start of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. As the U.S. war continues in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, there is an urgent need for all opposed to these wars to continue to speak out."

The U.S. launched its war in Afghanistan in October, 2001. 14 years later, the U.S. is still at war in Afghanistan, and the war in Afghanistan has come to be the starting point for a whole series of U.S. wars and interventions across the world. Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan and more have been targets of U.S. bombs, troops, drone strikes, weapons and other forms of intervention since October 2001.

Even as the Obama administration claims that the war in Afghanistan is ‘ending,’ this weekend U.S. airstrikes killed at least 22 people at a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan.

The Oct. 7 events in the Twin Cities are sponsored by End War Committee of Women Against Military Madness, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition and Twin Cities Peace Campaign.